Papua. On the 16th November, 1908, Papua or British New Guinea was placed under the Administration of the Commonwealth; it is under the Commonwealth but not a part of the Commonwealth which has since contributed the sum of £30,000 per year towards the Government and protection of this territory: Constitution, Section 122. Commonwealth Railways. The construction and taking over and maintenance of railways was authorized by the following Acts: : Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta: Railway Survey Act 1907. Port Darwin to Pine Creek: Northern Territory Act 1910. Pine Creek to Katherine River The Commonwealth Railway Act 1917 made permanent provision for the management of Federal railways. The railway built by South Australia from Port Darwin to Pine Creek, 146 miles, first came under the jurisdiction of the Department of External Affairs, and was worked under the Administrator of the Northern Territory. On the 1st July, 1915, the management of the line was handed over to the Commonwealth Railway Department. In the Northern Territory Acceptance Act, the construction of a trans-continental line from South Australia to the Northern Territory is provided for. The line has been extended from Pine Creek to Katherine River. The total cost of the line from Darwin to Katherine River has been £1,625,244. The connecting line from Katherine River to Oodnadatta is in course of survey. The line from Port Augusta to Oodnadatta, 478 miles, built by the State of South Australia was taken over by the Commonwealth Government from 1st January, 1911, but was held under lease by the South Australian Government until 31st December 1913. It is provided in the Northern Territory Acceptance Act that the Commonwealth shall annually reimburse the State with the interest payable on the amount of loans raised by the State for the purpose of constructing the railway and the agreement for working the line prescribed that the Commonwealth is responsible to the State for any financial loss incurred by the State in the working and management of the railway, but is entitled to receive from the State any profit made in such working and management. The line from Queanbeyan, New South Wales, to Canberra, Federal Territory, five miles, was built by the Railway Construction Branch of the Public Works Department, New South Wales, and was completed and taken over by the Chief Commissioner of Railways for that State, who has, for the time being, agreed with the Commonwealth Government to work it. The line was opened for Commonwealth departmental goods traffic on 25th May, 1914. Capital cost £50,000. The trans-continental line, Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta, 1,053 miles, built by the Commonwealth at a cost of £7,123,744 was opened for traffic on the 22nd day of October, 1917. Legislation with Respect to Contracts. There is no general grant to the Federal Parliament of power to legislate respecting contracts made within the States, but it has full and unlimited authority to do so respecting contracts made within the Federal Territories, the Seat of Government and with respect to inter-state and external trade, and with regard to Federal business and services. The general power over contracts is still reserved to the States. There are, however, several specific assignments of such power which have been exercised in the following Federal Acts : : Constitution, Section 51 (XXII.): Coinage (Legal Tender) Act 1909. Constitution, Section 51 (XIII.): Australian Notes (Legal Constitution Section 51 (xvI.): Bills of Exchange and There is an indirect or implied grant of power to the Federal Parliament to regulate contracts in connection with the inter-State and external trade and commerce: Section 51 (1.). Thus the Sea Carriage of Goods Act 1904 declares what shall be the implied conditions or warranties of a bill of lading, and what clauses shall be prohibited in a bill of lading, preventing persons from contracting themselves out of the benefits and protection of the Act. The Australian Industries Preservation Act 1906-10, sections 4 to 7, 7a and 7B prohibit and declare illegal any trusts, combines or refusals to deal, in restraint or monopoly of inter-state or external trade. The Contract Immigrants Act 1905 declares that agreements made by persons outside Australia to perform manual labour within Australia upon arrival in Australia are absolutely void and unenforceable in Australia unless made in conformity with the conditions of the Act. Actionable Wrongs Independent of Contracts. The Federal Parliament has no general authority to pass laws respecting torts or wrongs (such as negligence) committed within any of the States but it has an unqualified jurisdiction to do so in relation to the Commonwealth Public Service, the Naval and Military Forces and within the Seat of Government and in other Federal Territories. Parliament has, however, an incidental but limited. power to attach sanctions to and provide remedies for the violation of rights and the neglect of duties imposed in the exercise of direct grants of power such as in connection with inter-state and external trade and commerce; inter-state shipping and navigation. This legislative authority is illustrated in the following Acts : Sea Carriage of Goods Act 1904 (negligence and unsea- Seamen's Compensation Act 1911 (injury by accident). Trade Marks Act 1905-12 (damages for infringement). Commonwealth Workmen's Compensation Act 1912 (injury Legislation Respecting Offences Against the Commonwealth. As in the matter of civil wrongs so with reference to the law of crimes, the Federal Parliament has no unmeasured power within the realm of criminal jurisdiction. The Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914 codifies the possible offences and crimes against Federal law with the punishment for breach which is to follow conviction. Statutory Adoption of Common Law Rules. The question as to whether there can be a Federal common law independent of Federal legislation is referred to under a separate heading (post) "Judicial Interpretation." Under the heading of "Federal Legislation" it is appropriate to mention that in the exercise of its legislative powers to deal with definite subject matters the Parliament of the Commonwealth has adopted and incorporated in several Acts, common law rules, principles and methods by reference only and not by definition. Thus the Judiciary Act, No. 6 of 1903, section 80, provides that so far as the laws of the Commonwealth are not applicble or so far as their provisions are insufficient to carry them into effect, or to provide adequate remedies or punishment, the common law of England as modified by the Constitution and by the Statute law in force in the State in which the Court in which the jurisdiction is exercised is held, shall, so far as it is applicable and not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth govern all Courts exercising Federal jurisdiction in the exercise of their jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. The Copyright Act 1905, section 7, declares that the common law of England relating to proprietary rights in unpublished literary compositions shall, after the commencement of this Act apply throughout the Commonwealth. The Trade Marks Act 1905, section 5, provides that the common law of England relating to trade marks shall, after the commencement of this Act, apply throughout the Commonwealth. The Bills of Exchange Act 1909-12, section 5 (2) enacts that the rules of common law, including the law merchant, save in so far as they are inconsistent with the express provisions of this Act, shall continue to apply to bills of exchange, cheques, and promissory notes. The Marine Insurance Act 1909, section 4, provides that the rules of the common law, including the law merchant, save in so far as they are inconsistent with the express provisions of this Act, shall apply to contracts of marine insurance. The Crimes Act, No. 12 of 1914, section 4, provides :- The principles of the common law with respect to criminal liability shall, subject to this Act, apply in relation to offences against this Act." PART III. LEGISLATION RESPECTING FINANCE. The Taxing and Spending Powers. The powers vested in the Commonwealth which have caused most surprise and yielded the most unexpected results are the taxing power, section 51 (II.) and the spending power, section 81. These powers are practically unlimited save that Federal taxation must not discriminate between States and money must be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth. Avoiding the rule against discrimination the Federal Parliament could impose taxation in every shape and form, direct and indirect, to the monopoly of all sources of revenue and to the exclusion and eventual destruction of the States. The gradual extension of Federal taxation and its infringement on the original tax-gathering preserves of the States is shown in the exclusive Federal control over customs and excise duties and in the double land tax (Federal and State), in the double income tax (Federal and State), in the double death and succession duty (Federal and State). The Federal Parliament has also anticipated the States in imposing an Entertainment Tax. The process of Federal taxation may go on widening and extending until it gradually covers the whole field of possible financial resources; then will come the great day of reckoning and the States may find themselves crippled in their finances and compelled to retrench and reduce their widening functions and expense. The spending power of the Commonwealth is not restricted to the purposes of legislation, defined by section 51 but appears to be unlimited save by its own discretion, the paying capacity of the tax-payers and in the last resort, by the ballot-box. No Court of law could possibly prevent the Federal Parliament appropriating money for any purpose under the sun. This boundless power of appropriation is illustrated in the Maternity Bonus Act, the Polar · Expedition Grant, the Belgian Grant, the proposed Bureau of Agriculture and the proposed Bureau of Science. Similar elasticity. in the spending power has been discovered in the Constitution of the United States where the Union Government is gradually overshadowing and superseding the Governments of the States in vast financial appropriations as powerful and effective in their operations |